2024 – Major gas leak in Longueuil

A major natural gas leak left thousands of homes without power, prompted preventive evacuations and caused the partial closure of Taschereau Boulevard in Longueuil on Sunday morning. Traffic should resume by 5 a.m. Monday morning, Énergir said.

The Longueuil agglomeration police service (SPAL) was able to confirm in the early afternoon that it was a natural gas leak.

The incident is believed to have occurred shortly before 9:15 a.m. near Boulevard Taschereau, at the Chemin du Coteau-Rouge.

As a preventive measure, the artery between Boulevard Curé-Poirier and the entrance to the Jacques-Cartier Bridge was closed to traffic. The lanes have now reopened, but only in the direction of Brossard.

Shortly after 6 p.m., the company Énergir, which is carrying out work on the gas pipelines, The press that the pipe from which the leak was coming was pinched both upstream and downstream. The leak was therefore sealed on Sunday evening, but several more hours of work will be needed to completely fix the problem.

“We still have to clear the road above the leak, seal it and then re-asphalt it overnight so that it can be used during rush hour tomorrow morning,” explains Lambert Gosselin, spokesman for Énergir. “If further work needs to be carried out, this will be planned later.”

He estimates that traffic should resume at 5 a.m. Monday morning. “We've come a long way already. The weather could play tricks on us, but we hope not,” he says.

Preventive evacuations

On Sunday morning, around 200 people had to be evacuated as a precautionary measure.

“In the morning, we didn't know where the leak was coming from,” explains Lambert Gosselin. It was eventually found under the roadway at Taschereau Boulevard. After any risk of a leak in a residential building had been ruled out, the affected people were able to return home.

By Sunday evening, “all residents had returned to their homes,” said Annie Bilodeau, spokeswoman for the Longueuil fire department.

Power outages in the region

The gas leak left nearly 20,000 homes in the region without power. By early afternoon, power had been restored to most homes. At 6 p.m., fewer than 500 Hydro-Québec customers were still waiting for power to be restored.

No injuries were reported.

Since the ramp from Taschereau Boulevard to the Jacques-Cartier Bridge is still not accessible, the police are asking the public to avoid the area. “Traffic disruptions are to be expected,” said François Boucher, spokesman for SPAL.